From the first day I tried my hand at taxidermy, I was hooked for the rest of my life. I was 11 years old and the night before I had read my first lesson, Booklet Number 1, of the correspondence course from the Northwestern School of Taxidermy in Omaha, Nebraska. To be honest, I studied the procedure drawings more than the text. I still remember this first attempt at mounting a bird; I had no idea what I was doing, but I liked it and that made me want more. I was having fun!

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The third part of our series on alligators will feature the procedures Houma, Louisiana, taxidermist Carl Tregre uses for finishing an alligator head. Part 2 featured David Spiess’s professional process for cleaning and curing a gator head. Carl and David, who both own successful studios, have combined their knowledge and experience for years, helping each other find the best way to handle America’s largest reptile.

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In the taxidermy profession, whitetail deer have been the king of all mammal species in North America for full-service shops. Literally tens of thousands are mounted each year for hunters taking North America’s number-one game animal and trophy. With a recent article submission from Carolin Brak-Dolny and one in our files from Vincent Fleming, we felt it was fitting to do both articles together, offering two different processes from two World Champions for finishing whitetail nose pads and nostrils. Vincent originally wrote his article for the Texas Taxidermy Association for their 2014 magazine, and the TTA and Vincent both gave us permission to republish. We received Carolin’s article this spring and were astonished how much that finished nose looked like a live deer! Reference is a taxidermist’s best friend for replicating realistic animals.

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Many people have asked me about my deer noses so I thought I would share. This is how I do whitetail noses on commercial deer. As you know, there are many color variations of visible bare areas on whitetails and this is very true for the nose. The nose pad can exhibit both smooth textures and other very prominent textures. Nose color will vary, along with the color tones of the lower nose pad to the upper portion of the nose pad. Learn from reference, especially the fresh examples received in your workshop. Study good quality nose photo reference for the coloring and color tone variations.

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There are several different ways to finish the nose on a deer. In this article, I will discuss a few ways to finish a nose and show one of the ways I use to finish a nose on a customer’s deer. First, you need to look at a few reference pictures to help you in the finishing process.

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